Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amanda Madtes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Amanda , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Often the greatest growth and the biggest wins come right after a defeat. Other times the failure serves as a lesson that’s helpful later in your journey. We’d appreciate if you could open up about a time you’ve failed.
Just this morning after I poured coffee, I opened up my business messages.
This was Not the message you want at Any time.
It was from a new Client that had ordered a set of leg protectors.
She had sent Photos of them ripped up.
Her Dog had only worn them for one day.
She was frustrated and rightly so.
I’m still trying to figure out what happened but we have a very small complaints percentage,
I feel like we have have failed.
It’s so very hard as a small Business that manufactures every product
to Not take Complaints Personally.
The higher the number of Orders,
The Greater the risk of unhappy Clients.
I’m hoping we resolved the issue to her satisfaction.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Celtic K9 Dubhlinn
As a toddler if you couldn’t find me, I was most likely in a Dog kennel with whatever Canine I could be near.
Always gravitating towards Dogs, I was obsessed from an early age.
Born in Dublin Ireland, I immigrated to NYC in 1996 as a Fashion Designer to work with Calvin Klein Corporation.
After figuring out that commercial design was not for me, I switched careers to the Hospitality Industry, yet I continued to design Bridal Wear for Friends.
Living in a NYC apartment and working long hours, I always yearned for a Dog but knew my daily absence would be unfair so
I vowed to wait until one day when my hours stabilized before finding my four legged Companion.
I met my Husband and we finally bought a house with a nice large fenced in backyard and the time was right to get our Pup together.
My Husband had a Golden Retriever previously who had passed of old age and suggested we get a Golden.
This was a new Breed to me having only been raised with German Shepherds in Ireland.
He found a very reputable Breeder and soon enough came home with the chunkiest cutest Pup I’ve ever seen.
My Husband named him Dubhlinn (Gaelic for Dublin).
I fell in love with him but I soon realized that I had so much to learn about the Breed.
At around 7 months old, I was brushing him and clumps of hair, unlike anything I’d ever seen were coming out of him.
Being a new Golden Mom I panicked and brought him to the Vet the next day.
I was kindly laughed out of their office with a recommendation to find to a local Groomer.
(He was blowing out his Puppy coat)
Once I started to research Dog Grooming I found a fascinating correlation between the two passions that I have.
Dogs and Art.
I started to realize that I could have a career working with Dogs and promptly enrolled in an accredited Dog Grooming school in Manhattan NYC.
After my first day training, I was hooked.
Making Dogs feel and look their best while sculpting their hair was incredible and addictive.
As a Groomer, I worked with many Rescue Dogs that were brought to me and I’ve been a Foster Failure so many times.
Elderly or handicapped stole my heart and for 3 years running my Husband and I took in Elderly Rescue Pups with only a little time to live.
We wanted them to have the best quality of life that was left for them.
In 2018 we moved from New York to Pennsylvania into a home that has 4 acres of land.
Our Dog count increased to 5 along with our very tolerant Cat.
I had started to Compete in Dog Grooming Shows and had dreamed of owning my very own Poodle.
After a lot of searching and reference checks, my very good Friend found me a retired Show Poodle.
My Husband was reluctant to get a Poodle but ended up driving me 7 hours away to collect him and also paid for him as a gift because he knew how much I was in love with the Breed.
His name was Gazpacho or ‘Spachie’ as we call him.
This incredible Dog has literally changed my life.
Spachie came with some clothing items I’d never seen before.
A Snood, Leg Protectors and a satin lined and padded collar.
I already (thought) I knew how to maintain his coat being a Groomer, but was stumped when I saw his ‘clothes’.
After some research I found out that the Snood was put on during mealtimes or bone chomping to keep his long ears from trailing in the food and water.
The Leg Protectors were to be put on during rain/snow or hiking to protect his leg hair from burrs and getting soaked which leads to hair matting.
Also, because sometimes he was very lazy, and lifting up his leg, he used to Pee on the back of his front legs.
The padded and satin lined collar was to protect his delicate neck hair from the breakage that a regular collar would do.
Everything was starting to make sense!
Spachie’s original satin collar started to look a little dingy so one day I took out my sewing machine and made something similar out of curtain fabric and satin from my wedding dress (which I had made).
It was Not pretty!
Even with my Fashion Design background it was harder than it looked.
Now I was using a stainless steel check chain martingales and had to incorporate those into the collar, making sure to security stitch everything together.
Once I got his collar pattern set, off on a jaunt to the fabric store we went.
I missed the magical smell of uncut fabric and went a little wild buying all of the colors that caught my eye.
I spent all of my free time making my Boy a whole new wardrobe of collars getting a little more creative with each one.
I photographed his collection and posted the picture on my Social Media page.
What happened next, I was totally unprepared for…
Bombarded by my fellow Groomer Friends to make one for their Poodles, I quickly found that although I had my Boy in front of me to measure I had to find a way for others to measure their Dogs.
It was trial and error and I can’t thank my wonderful Friends enough for their patience working that kink out with me.
Everything steamrolled very fast and as soon as I could, I incorporated a brand new Company.
‘Celtic K9 Dubhlinn’ was officially born in May of 2020.
Bless my Husband and his patience as I took over an entire room of our house with sewing machines and fabrics and every trim I could get my hands on.
May 2021, I moved Celtic K9 into a newly renovated barn on our property and now have the perfect work studio I could imagine.
As soon as I felt comfortable with the patterns for my collars, I started working on patterns for other products to protect coat.
Snoods, became adjustable to fit a growing Dog. I also realized they could be water resistant for inclement weather.
Leg Protectors were a 3 week project to get a design that worked for my hyper Poodle.
Hunting down water Resistant fabric that was lightweight enough to give ease of movement was a top priority.
I started to branch out on other projects.
Cool Coats, that have a chamois lining and can be dampened and put in a cooler or refrigerator and then put on the Dog on hot days to regulate their body temperature, keeping the Dog cool for up to 4 hours.
Drying/Sacking Jackets made of stretch Spandex to be stretched comfortably over the Dog to keep the coat flat before a Show or during the grooming process.
Padded Shear and Stripping Knife cases for my fellow Groomers and Show Handlers.
Quick Release Sets for those that work their Dogs in agility and Dog Sports, also could be modified for traveling and potty breaks.
One style of the original collar became 13 more completely different styles for every aspect of a Dog’s lifestyle.
A year after Celtic K9 Dubhlinn’s inception I branched out to design for All Breeds including Mixed Breeds.
Poodles and Golden Retrievers are my first loves but Every Dog deserves to spoiled.
So what’s the next step?
It ended up that I had a very hard choice to make,
I could not physically do both full-time Grooming and the Collar Business.
Taking a leap of faith that had my heart in my hand,
I retired completely from Grooming except for competitive grooming my own Dogs for fun.
The self-doubt that assailed me was incredible.
I had never experienced such questioning about my own experience or talent up until that moment.
Thankfully many of my Grooming friends were there to help me and they gave me enough confidence to apply for my first Barkleigh Booth.
I applied for a Booth at the the New England Grooming Show 2021.
The Booth application was a success and then all of the crazy questions started flooding into my head.
“What do I actually need to make the booth accessible and look good?”
That was the main focus..
Applying to be a Booth applicant was way worse than any competition entry!
You get waitlisted automatically unless there is something immediately available for you which is very rare.
Especially as a new company with no historical background.
The New England Grooming Show was our first Barkleigh Productions Show and we enjoyed the heck out of it.
It was so weird to be on the other side as a Vendor and not a competitor anymore.
We made sure to donate to the local Grooming associations to their raffles and
Host parties.
Special thanks to NEGS in conjunction with Barkleigh Productions.
Fast forward to Hershey 2022.
You think you are ready as a New Vendor?
You are not.
Hershey , Groom Expo is the ultimate and biggest Grooming convention on the East Coast of the United States.
It is an amazing feeling being there as a student and taking classes and watching competitions,
it is a privilege being there and competing and speaking as an Educator.
It’s a different ballgame when it comes to Vending at Groom Expo.
All Bets are Off!
It is you and your company and your booth and your products that you are backing.
Your reputation is on the line now.
Once, you were an attendee.
Then, a competitor
And now a vendor.
The craziest thing happened about three weeks before Groom Expo,
Celtic K9 got nominated as
‘up-and-coming industry brand of the year’
(New Vendor)?
This was Out of left field for us as we were trying to nominate our friends and fellow industry people.
When we got the email we were on the floor, (literally on the floor crying and laughing and terrified.)
Fast forward to the night of the Awards Ceremony.
To see our name up there with some of the amazing companies that have been established for many years was one of the biggest moments that we will never forget.
Vending at Groom expo Hershey was definitely one of the highlights of my life concerning the Grooming industry.
As prepared as I thought we were as a company with our booth and ambassador team…
The response was overwhelming and humbling.
Because we were a new company with no background we were waitlisted for two years to get the 6‘ x 8‘ booth.
Groom Expo Hershey is our home show,
We had put down our deposit for 2023 and have applied for the bigger booth.
Now it’s 2023 and we did get the bigger booth.
It’s been an amazing journey to go from attendee to competitor to now vendor.
Many other Products are available. All designed for the safety, comfort and protection of the Dogs.
October, 2024 we opened our new Showroom and manufacturing offices in Pocono Summit. PA.
We now have a show room where our clients when passing through on the way to a dog show, can stop off and visit, take a break and shop.
We have just recently started our series of educational seminars, held in the showroom.
We have just recently hired our third employee, and she has been working out amazingly.
Always thinking forward,
Always thinking positively
Celtic K9 is located in the beautiful Pocono Mountains, PA.
Owned and operated by Amanda Madtes who ironically is owned by
Two Beautiful Golden Retrievers named Kildare and Galway.
A Velcro Miniature Poodle named Spachie.
A crunchy Terrier Mix who rules the roost named Kerry
Oh, and can’t forget the Tolerant Cat. His name is Kat.
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
Because most of our products are custom made, we have been very reluctant to start up a website.
With a website we feel that we would be limited in conversation with clients.
With online sales, we produce all of those through Facebook social media.
We have a business page on Facebook and it is Linked in to Facebook Business Suite.
While it has its disadvantages, it has given us a platform to sell for the past four years without cost.
Social media is our number one driven area where we make sales.
We attend three major trade shows a year along with small local dog shows.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Literally just this morning we had A new client send us back photos of a product that We manufacture and had shipped to her last week.
While we still can’t figure out what happened exactly, the client was dissatisfied.
We issued her a refund immediately and then also offered to send her a replacement for her product.
I believe that this sets the tone for our business.
Reputation is everything and within this day and age unfortunately any business could be prone to cancel culture.
I believe it is something that all small businesses should be aware of.
We do stand by our products and rely on our clients to tell us if there are any issues so we can fix it, upgrade and learn, and then move forward while the client is happy.
I believe that we have a very strong and decent reputation within our industry.
It has literally been blood sweat and tears, but one day it’ll all be worth it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celtick9collars?igsh=MXFxb2drejFrdGZwaQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/celtick9?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Image Credits
Animal photography.com